UK student has tongue lengthened to speak better Korean

19-year-old Rhiannon Brooksbank-Jones has had her tongue lengthened in order to speak better Korean.

While taking lessons in Korean, Rhiannon found that she couldn’t pronounce certain crucial sounds that are used in the everyday use of the language.

Her dentist told her that it could be down to the fact that she had an unusually thick lingual fraenulum – the little flap of skin that connects the tongue to the bottom of the mouth.

Her thick fraenulum has never caused her any problems in speaking English and most people who have a thicker fraenulum generally get it sorted out just after birth. After talking it over with her parents and language tutor, however, Rhiannon decided that the procedure was what she needed.

The operation took around 20 minutes and consisted of a small incision in the flap of skin causing the problem. Rhiannon’s tongue can now stretch an extra 1cm and she now has no problems pronouncing any Korean words.

“My pronunciation was very 'foreign', but now I can speak with a native Korean accent. The surgical procedure was my only option. It's not like you can stretch your tongue otherwise. I just decided enough was enough.

“For me it was an important thing, because I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and if I can't do it perfectly, it really irritates me.

“Some might say it's extreme, but you could apply the same argument to plastic surgery.”